The present disclosure relates generally to a shot tracking and feedback system. Clay target shooting is practiced all over the world and includes several disciplines, such as trap shoot, skeet shooting, sporting clays and the like. In these sports, a clay pigeon is thrown out of one or more houses and a weapon (e.g., a shotgun) is used to shoot the clay pigeon after it is thrown out of the houses. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary trap field 102. As shown in FIG. 1, a trap house 104 (target throwing machine) is located at a distance from the shooting stations 108 located in the trap field 102. Multiple shooting locations may be provided at each shooting station 108 to account for shooter skill and difficulty. Shooters move through each of the shooting stations 108 in the trap field to shoot at the targets launched from the trap house 104. Olympic target shooting may have different layouts and launch angles.
When target shooting with a shotgun, there is very little feedback as to how well the shooter is performing other than observing whether each shot resulted in a hit (strike) or miss of each target. Specifically, if the shooter misses a target, it is difficult to determine whether the shot was above, below, ahead of or behind the intended target. Even in the event of a hit of the target, it is difficult to know whether the shot struck near the center of target or whether the shot struck the target sufficiently well to break the target clay (i.e., an off-center shot). This uncertainty may make trapshooting to be a very difficult and, at times, frustrating sport. It is frustrating to shooters to not understand how they may improve and misunderstandings about their performance may require tedious, expensive, and random trial and error for improvement of the shooter's shooting technique. The shooter may also unknowingly reinforce bad habits without adequate feedback.
Several conventional methods exist for improving shooting technique but the conventional methods fall short in some regard. For example, a shooter can ask observer, such as a coach, to stand behind the shooter and observe the shot to provide feedback as to how a shot missed the target. However, this approach requires dedicated time from an observer and is subject to the observer's ability to determine how the shooter missed. In another example, some conventional gun-mounted camera systems record video of the shot to enable a user to see the shot cloud in relation to the clay when the video is played back, which typically occurs on a computer at the shooter's home or on a smart device via a software application. The conventional cameras are typically aligned to the shooter's gun (e.g., mounted to the gun barrel). Additionally, although the conventional camera systems are not heavy, mounting the conventional camera system to the gun barrel adds some weight to the barrel of the gun, which can affect balance and shooting performance. The conventional camera systems do not provide a true indication or feedback as to how the shooter missed. In another example, some conventional shotgun shells include a wad corresponding to a path of the shell that enables tracking the path of the shot for a period of time after leaving the shotgun. These conventional shotgun rounds are about twice as expensive as standard rounds. Although these rounds can assist a shooter understand how the shot missed, the path of the wad can be misleading particularly in determining whether the shot is ahead of or behind or above or below the target because the wad is significantly slower than the shot. Other conventional systems include indoor training systems that use lasers. For example, a light source may be positioned to project a laser on a wall to represent targets and another light source may be mounted on the gun to project a laser indicating a current direction of the barrel to observe where the gun is pointed. In such conventional systems, a camera typically monitors where the laser output from the gun is pointed relative to the target when the shot is fired. These conventional systems are relatively expensive and require a large indoor area for set up.
Another problem for target shooters (e.g., using a bow, crossbow, rifle, pistol or other weapon) is that the shooters may determine and manually record their scores. However, the conventional systems and software typically used to determine a shooter's score is typically cumbersome and takes considerable time to use. Thus, none of the conventional systems provide adequate feedback on the shooter's technique or provide recommendations to the shooter to improve their performance in real time.